Prostitutes, Sex offenders, Murderers and Homosexuals welcome

This from a beautiful and moving exposition of God's grace. First a bit of the intro:

One of the greatest scandals of the gospel is the free grace of forgiveness. But we say this, and I do not think we often let it sink in. The scandal of free grace is God’s love of sinners, God’s love of His enemies, His love of the worst kinds of evil people...

Then some applications:

This means that God receives prostitutes who sleep with married men, helping them break their marriage vows, helping them betray their wives at home. God receives those prostitutes. 

This means that God receives sex offenders, men who prey on little children, rapists, abusers, stalkers, molesters, and creeps of all of shapes and sizes. God receives filthy sex offenders. 

This means that God receives murderers, haters, backbiters, gossips, and liars. He receives those who have planned the execution of the innocent. He forgives abortionists and the women who order the murder of their own babies. He forgives the military officers who order unjust attacks, and He forgives the soldiers who carry them out. God receives bloody murderers. 

This means that God receives homosexuals and transexuals and bisexuals and transgendered and porn addicts and adulterers and fornicators of every stripe. God cleanses. God forgives. God extends mercy. God receives the sexually immoral and confused.

The challenge:

And someone will say, but don’t they have to change? Don’t they have to repent? Don’t they have to stop sinning? Don’t they have to understand something about the grace of God? Otherwise, why wouldn’t God save everyone? We’re not universalists are we? Yes, good questions. But first let’s fix the pronoun problems in the previous sentences.

Why do you say they…? Why do you speak as though they are out there, they are behind bars, they are extreme cases? Don’t you know that they are you? Don’t pretend that these sins are so far removed from you. Don’t pretend that you are all holy, chaste, and pure. If you say you have no sin, you deceive yourself, and the truth is not in you (1 Jn. 1:8). But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9).

From most unrighteousness? From the milder forms of unrighteousness? From the socially acceptable forms of unrighteousness? No, from all unrighteousness. Yes, when God’s grace comes, it accomplishes miracles, it transforms, it breaks through, it heals, it changes. Absolutely. This is no inert grace. This is reactive, explosive, living grace.

Moving stuff indeed. Read the full thing here